Rollohi-ep15-script

15.1 is this goodbye?

Time: the morning of the first day of the New Moon. In theory, if Kaelen is satisfied, she will arrange elite gear for them within 11 days, or by dawn of 2nd day of waxing gibbous. But we are not sure if she will be satisfied. War with at least one Dwarf Lord might be the immediate result, after all! 

 

Let's put a couple of framing questions  

Is kaelen delighted that the baron had to die 

Yes and the party goes up in her esteem, especially when she hears about a dead elf. She pays the initial gold over and promises them both more work if they are in the region longer, and to send on the top artisan gear once the vicomte signs it over. 

(How many days will that be? 11) 

Whats her vicomte's name anyway 

Yhibh Espeque, secretly female, lvl 6 half-elf that presents as male 11 09 13 09 11 13 

Is kaelen in on the secret yes but knows it's for a good cause 

 

Number of barons around her border 7 

Of which # towards chaos dwarf lords is 3 

 

Is Jory heading right back to Hidden Springs no so his plans changed. he's using his knowledge gained – that's presumably about the Thieves Guild -  and staying around the area 

 

With treasure comes jealousy. Let's have a tally of who has what. I have a feeling that Xantu needs something. 

Eryn; nothing up until now. She gains the +1  heavy armor, AC4 adjusted to 3. 

Ingle has the Staff of Healing though it is really a party item. He gains Leather+1 Ac7 adjusted to 6. 

Jack would have liked that armor but elf boots or elf cloak or both will do great. He can do without the boots: Kylie can do without the cloak. So Jack gets the Elf Cloak.  

Umbert has nothing beyond ability to research new spells in the vicomte's library. He will take the Ring of water walking intending to sell it. But of course, he suspects the kind of money he could get for it here would be trivial. 

CiedPod get nothing  

Kylie already has armor +1 and will settle for the Elf Boots 

Xantu will opt for the shield +1, with it he will be veey hard to hit. 

The potion of levitation will be in trust for high scouting or similar, so CiedPod may benefit after all. 

Is there funds in New Jhay to purchase a ring of water walking? No and as Umbert suspected, it is already agitated by the death of the baron. Time to go. 

Should the party push scouting out further? 

1,2 would mean pulling back to the hanging valley on the south-east side of the plateau, then hidden springs 

3,4 means trapping their way back south and west, perhaps all the way back to Fort Stoutheart. 

5,6 would mean pushing around the north-east of Hidden Springs including the plateau and around the river running north off it. 

Its a 5. Not directly at the chaos boundary but exploring the high ground on the plateau or the low ground beyond whisperwood. It includes the Tor on the plateau that they never made it to owing to the goblin battle. 

After all they have supply and Ingle purifies water each morning. 

 

1st day of new moon 

They plan the route up over the shoulder, onto the plateau, then counter-clockwise. 

 

"We do need to locate the hobgoblins, at the very least," Umbert rasps prophetically 

 

15.2 Stony wings

From what they have already seen of the river near Whisperwood, the plateau feeds both the river and stream by New Jhay. Does the river come from higher peaks or a great spring? No and it wells up from below the plateau in a great spring and lake. 

is the tor is the highest point no and the north of the plateau is rough heights. 

Is there a good trail past the lake? Yes and a water service exists.  

Does it have anything to do with new jhay no and it's a different baron.  

Do they already know that it's a different baron yes but aren't fully clear of the baronial holdings. 

Size of water town 4, modest townlet. Name Yib Aqua 

Is it elven no but it's connected to Yibh Espeque the half elf vicomte 

Funding enough to buy a ring of water walking no 

Hire of barge suitable for 6 horses and 2 pack mules and 8 adventurers: negotiate from 120 gold. Ingle makes nat1 on CHA so 120 it is. That takes care of Kaelens gold. 

 

Is the barge also ferrying any significant cargo or npcs yes and roll twice 

Npcs  noble and acolyte 

Rank of noble, seigneur, the manorial rights to the lake town. His name is Sir Fuire Biti 

Is he traveling for his health yes and joining his mistresses. How many? Just two. 

 

The acolyte of course is our investigator last mentioned turning up at the lodge, looking for Eikpe. His religious name is Brother Solace, but his true name is Xya Neaaf. 

WIS 12 INT 14 CHA 09. He engages the party in careful discourse. 

He gets rolls on all three. But not at advantage right? No, he's got nothing more than vague coincidence so far. 

19, 20, and 14 so a swing and a miss. 

Is Yormsley on his trail? Yes but lost him recently.  

 

As for the cargo, the lake town Yib Aqua needs all sorts of metallic hardware though it has wood and pottery galore. There's an iron mine over in the next manor and a smithing town, much further over north towards Yibh's own castle, refines the raw billets to high quality. So Yib Aqua is getting both pigs of lump iron, and refined bars. 

Copper and tin are even less common though there is silver and lead in Yibh's domain. 

 

Can the barge take cargo past the far shore yes but only after a stopover in Yib Aqua. 

 

So they hire rooms at The Gilded Lantern: Nestled by the shimmering lake, this inn glows with warmth, where traders exchange tales as golden as the sunset. 

Is this a good place for Intel of hobgoblins yes 

2nd day of new moon 

Do the monsters conduct raids at the lake no but their scouts do patrol the feeder streams. 

 

Is there a lake monster of any significance no but there are normal chances 

Wilderness/settled lake: piranha-like fish are active, so all fishing is done from canoes or larger. 

 

Gargoyle! 4 have been sent by  

1 a random psychotic magi  

2 a rival of a local power 

3 a jealous lover of the seigneur  

4,5, something more political 

6 hobgoblin mage looking for the party 

Its a 6! 

 

The floor they attack on is (d4, 4 is through the roof) floor 2. 

Each has AC5 and requires magic to do harm. Three have 19hp but one has only 7, having been struck by the manticore. 

 

Being able to use furniture: so long as they keep their cool the party can use furniture and doorways to attack while not allowing more than one gargoyle an attack  and that with disadvantage. 

 

Range 120' initially. Disadvantage but anyone not a halfling might notice: no, 07, 12, 15, no, no – Ingle notices! 

 

Let's see if the seigneur or another local fighter could intervene. Yes, there is one group of semi retired expert adventurers. There are 8: 3 fighters 2 thieves 2 dwarves 1 halfling and having seen their cleric and magic user move on/die they ate looking for somewhere to retire to. One dwarf is lvl 9 and 1 for is lvl 8. 

 

 

The eight level two adventurers are dining in their private second floor chamber. They hired this larger room in the Gilded Lantern, a good inn of the lake town Yib Aqua, so as to have privacy. 

Unbeknown to them, four gargoyles have been sent to attack them. They burst in through a window, but not before Ingle spots them flying closer against the setting sun. Gargoyles require magic to be damaged. 

The company comprises: 

Eryn the fighter is an advocate type personality. Her only useful "weapon" might be a +1 shield. 

Ingle the human cleric is a spiritual type. He has no attack spells but does have a Staff of Healing 

Jack the human thief is a selfish type though he has a streak of heroism. 

Umbert the human magic user has a militant disposition but his only attack spell is Ventriloquism. 

Pod the halfling has a cautious disposition, but as if in balance, his partner Cied the female halfling has a reckless one. Neither has a magic weapon. 

Kylie the female elf is so alien in her thinking noone can really make out her disposition. She can call on Magic Missile, but just once. 

Lastly Xantu the dwarf is of a militant disposition. He has no useful weapon. 

 
 

Describe how the eight adventurers use furniture and doorways to stall the gargoyles so that adventurers from the town can get to the scene and rescue them 

  

"Gargoyles!" Ingle's shout was a piercing alarm that cut through the sounds of feasting and laughter. He dropped his fork and pointed a trembling hand towards the dining room window. Against the fading amber of the setting sun, four winged figures with jagged horns and stony skin were swooping down. There was no time to question how they'd found them. 

The eight adventurers reacted with a desperate, chaotic efficiency. 

 
 

The Barricade at the Window 

Before the first gargoyle could even touch the sill, Xantu the dwarf, with a militant bellow, charged at the large, heavy dining table. His raw strength combined with Umbert's surprising shove sent the table careening across the room, where it slammed against the window. The table, now wedged with its top facing outward, formed a crude but effective barricade. Splintered glass and wood rained down as the first gargoyle's claws raked against the heavy oak. 

Xantu rolls 08 on STR not really helped by Umbert 

Umbert, the militant magic user, then used his only useful spell. "Help me!" a small voice whimpered from behind the barricade, though it was clearly Umbert's voice. He'd used his Ventriloquism to make a fake cry for help come from a different part of the room, drawing one gargoyle's attention for a precious second. 

 
 

The Choke-point at the Doorway 

As the second gargoyle smashed through the remaining glass, the adventurers knew they couldn't hold the window for long. A new plan formed in the tense seconds before it landed. Eryn the fighter, acting as the group's advocate and protector, took up position in the single doorway, her +1 shield held high. It wasn't a magic weapon, but it was a sturdy, magical barrier that could absorb the force of a blow better than anything else they possessed. She braced herself, ready to become the chokepoint. 

A gargoyle gets four attacks. One d3 claw maxes off but its other claw does 1 dmg. The shield stops the horn, but its bite chomps Eryn's shoulder for 2 dmg. 

Meanwhile, Pod the cautious halfling, was already helping Ingle the cleric push a heavy armoire in front of the door, narrowing the opening to a sliver. Pod kept yelling warnings to Eryn, his cautious nature manifesting as a relentless barrage of tactical advice. Pod's center of gravity helps but neither makes a useful STR check. Someone else will need to do something heroic! 

 

Strategic Stalling and Diversions 

The gargoyles were powerful but not brilliant. The two that got through the window were met with a series of frantic, non-damaging assaults. Cied, the reckless halfling, threw a heavy pewter mug at a gargoyle's head, an act of sheer bravado that did nothing but make the creature pause in confusion. 

Jack the thief, using his agile nature, scaled a small bookshelf and yanked down a heavy tapestry. He threw it over one of the gargoyles' heads, blinding it momentarily. While the creature flailed, Jack darted back down and wedged a heavy chair under the doorknob. 

This is an easier stunt. Jack does not need a check for climbing furniture. He has advantage for directing the fall of a tapestry from above. He rolls 11 on DEX, easily low enough.  

As the third gargoyle landed and charged the doorway, Kylie the elf, her alien mind having processed the situation with detached logic, shouted, "Now!" She had held onto her one magical trump card. A single bolt of pure force shot from her fingertip. The Magic Missile slammed into the gargoyle's chest, leaving a deep fissure in its stone flesh and sending it stumbling backward. It was the only actual damage dealt, and it bought them a few precious seconds. 

Kylie holds her action long enough to see the damage on this one. Her MM does 4, not enough to break it, but leaving it with only 3hp left. 

The adventurers, a messy but determined shield wall of flesh and furniture, held their positions. The gargoyles were snarling, confused, and stalled. The sounds of clashing stone and splintering wood were deafening, but then a new sound joined the fray—the clang of armor and the pounding of boots on the stairs below. The adventurers of Yib Aqua had heard the commotion, and the cavalry was coming. They had done their job.